Euro-Zone 'Misery' Has Never Been Higher

While the 'Misery' Index in Iran reaches exceptional levels, and the US aggregate of inflation and unemployment peaked last October, Europe's misery has continued to rise in the face of an ever-easing ECB and political jawboning. As SocGen notes today, the UK's misery has turned back higher and the Euro-zone's Misery Index has never been higher. These misery indices clearly reflect deteriorating economic performances in the main G10 countries, with some unsurprisingly weaker performances in Spain and Greece, leading the eurozone index higher. Given recessionary situations expected in some eurozone countries next year, the misery index is unfortunately quite unlikely to edge south significantly.

Via SocGen:

Eurozone: a record misery index. The situation in the eurozone deteriorated further during the summer: the unemployment rate hit a record 11.4% in August, while inflation increased from 2.4% yoy to 2.6% yoy, pushing the eurozone misery index to a record high (14%). With an unfortunately dark employment outlook, the index is unlikely to reverse course sharply anytime soon. This will force the ECB to keep an ultra-accommodative stance for some time to come.

US misery index: keep a close eye. The decrease (from 8.3% to 8.1%) in the unemployment rate in August was not enough to offset the increase (from 1.4% yoy to 1.7% yoy) in the inflation rate. As a result, the US misery index has increased slightly. Is it merely a passing cloud or the first sign of a more worrying storm? The September NFP report, to be released on Friday, will give us more of a clue. Although the US job situation is clearly less worrying than the eurozone’s, it remains a risk factor for the outlook for the US misery index, and could force the Fed to embark on QE 3.5 with Treasury purchases early next year.

UK misery index edging north. Although we only know the July results for now, we also note the first signs of a deterioration in the UK misery index; based on both employment and inflation. This provides a quandary for the BoE; our economists expect it to increase its QE programme in November.

Spain and Greece: converging misery indices. Spain’s misery index overtook even Greece’s in Q2, and is now about twice the eurozone’s (25.93 versus 13.7). With 24% unemployment rates in both countries, it is clear where the underperformance by both Spain and Greece comes from. Inflation is much more satisfactory, with 1.3% yoy in June in Spain and Greece versus 2.4% yoy in the eurozone. Unfortunately, looming austerity budgets in both countries next year will weigh on domestic demand and thus unemployment rates, leading to still elevated misery indices.

Clearly these people don't comprehend how hard Ben and Draghi are trying to help them out. They are doing everything in their power to try and improve their life style. The damn proples are always so ungrateful.

"Euro-Zone Misery has never been higher" Yeah baby, bring on the pain!!!

As can been seen from the quotes below we Europeans love a bit of Pain.

“To see others suffer does one good, to make others suffer even more: this is a hard saying but an ancient, mighty, human, all-too-human principle [....] Without cruelty there is no festival.” - Nietzsche

“Fuck! Is one expected to be a gentleman when one is stiff?” - De Sade

Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids! Iran is NOT in misery, they're in stitches! Having a good laugh at Nuttyahoo along with most of the rest of the civilized world. Iran is playing their hand like champs, letting "Israel" commit credibility suicide all by their lonesome:

A senior Iranian official derided Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s UN General Assembly speech, and asserted that the Islamic Republic’s “growing power and influence” have angered Jerusalem, the Iranian FARS news agency reported Sunday.

“The fake regime of Israel is mocked by everyone in the world today, although such cheap actions of the leaders of the occupying Zionist regime are nothing new,” top foreign ministry official Hassan Qashqavi said, referring to the cartoon-like bomb illustration that the prime minister presented at the UN General Assembly meeting on Thursday.

Netanyahu used the diagram and a red marker to demonstrate the Iran’s nuclear progress and press the international community to set a “red line” that would stop the atom program in its tracks.

Qashqavi, who was speaking at a ceremony in Iran’s southern city of Kangan, further claimed that Tehran’s might had angered Israeli officials so much that they were driven to using “silly” props.

Imagine where misery existing now in this new utopian part of the world is, where everything is fully under control and managed well by CB and Brussels and everybody still receives their entitlements just as was once promised to them, and where it will be 5 years from now when real austerity is starting to bite or dust starts to settle.

-Greece (Government) has it actually reduced spending? I know GDP keeps falling, I know they keep missing targets, but has their bloody government actually shrunk? No, I did not think so.

That will not happen until this index has to be portrait on a log scale to show its exponential climb to the top. It follows the money print index all the way to the stars and then once it has exceeded the laws of gravity it can float anywhere in vacuum.

The growth of dead per thousand inhabitants at that point might still be charted as the misery index above. That two might one day have to be charted on log scale. That one however can never reach the stars for it is bound by physical limitations.

Right, now about the amount of energy required to simply maintain the current status quo, nevermind grow. Yes Krugman also believe many things, such as infinite growth in a finite world, good luck with that.

Didn't junk you, just pointing out that eCONomics is not a science but rather a game of perception, a great CON if you will. The contradictions of the likes of Krugman just demonstrates the arrogance of the liars and the level of insanity they have taken everyone to.

all the ECB can do now is to try to stretch the implosion out over 30 years - and do whatever they can to keep the riots to a steady, controllable leve. over time, the military will lean to be more effective - and will bring in better technology to at least keep the riots restricted to certain areas.